Emmanuel Barron to work archeological dig in Germany to find WWII U. S. fighter pilot

LIME SPRINGS - Emmanuel Barron, a current resident of Lime Springs, and employee of Bear Creek Archeology in Cresco, will be traveling to Stuttgart, Germany to help in the effort to recover remains of a U.S. fighter pilot that was shot down during World War II. 

Barron, originally from Denver, Colorado, joined the army at 17 years old. He was an Infantry Officer (ABN), and served for nine and a half  years. He went on to work in Alaska as an archaeologist for the Army Corps of Engineers. The Japanese Government, at the time, had requested assistance in the retreival of their fallen soldiers from The Battle of Attu in the Aleutian Islands in 1943. He used his expertise to identify fighting positions, which helped him advise where potential remains may be. 

In 2016, Barron was supposed to go to Cambodia to help look for a F4 Phantom Crew, who were shot down during the Vietnam War defending a MAC V SOG team of Green Berets.  The crash was found by an original Special Forces soldier, who walked through the once familiar jungle for miles, before coming across the site. Barron decided to stay back from the trip, as his wife, Sarah Jones of Lime Springs, had just given birth to their second baby son. 

Barron will be leaving for Germany on June 16, to investigate and help find the remains of a U.S fighter pilot, downed by German forces.

During WWII, air warfare was prominent, but early in the war, the British and U.S planes were no match for the Germans. Allied Bombers were forced to go into enemy territory with no fighter planes for protection. Thousands of Army Air Corps airmen died during this time. The P-51 Mustang, officially deployed in the late months of 1943, was a combination of an American plane and the British Rolls Royce Merlin engine, and would become the first fighter plane that could reach Berlin and back. The Rolls Royce Merlin engine increased the original speed of the plane by 100 mph, making it impossible for the majority of the German fighter planes of the "Luftwaffe" to keep up. The P-51 Mustang fighter planes accompanied Bomber planes during daylight missions, and became a game changer for the war effort. The P-51 Mustangs were eventually  phased out in 1957. The plane was almost exclusively flown in Europe, although aided later in the Korean War. 

Terra Search is a veteran owned, non-profit organization that was established in 2020. Terra Search is dedicated to POW/MIA research, recovery, repatriation, and pre-deployment recovery mission training. Barron currently volunteers for Terra Search, and hopes to continue to accompany them, and other similar organizations, in their search for lost Americans from previous wars.